Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 2 - The Longbow Hunters

Plot
When ARGUS' resources are denied her, Felicity seeks to find another way to go after Diaz. Unfortunately, Diaz's new allies - The Longbow Hunters - are coming into action in Star City and what remains of Team Arrow is in no shape to help her. Meanwhile, in The Slab, Oliver is forced to form an alliance with an old enemy to survive and find out what Diaz is planning.

In the future, William tells Roy Harper why he came to Lian Yu, leading them both to an even larger mystery.Influences

The Jeff Lemire run on Green Arrow (concept of The Longbow Hunters) Supermax (David Goyer's unproduced "Green Arrow in prison" movie) and the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (parallels to Oliver's life, as it centers around a man who adopts a new identity to avenge himself on those responsible for ruining his former life before going on to take a series of actions that hurt innocent people as well as the guilty.)

Goofs

Why the heck are The Longbow Hunters called The Longbow Hunters? None of them use a longbow and they aren't brought together to seek revenge on Green Arrow. (I'm not even touching the fact that Green Arrow doesn't use a longbow...)

Apart from being another convenient road-block in keeping anyone from doing anything to stop Diaz, there is no reason why ARGUS would not want to capture and arrest the man responsible for leading the group that stole their technology. ARGUS has been shown abducting criminals off the street without trial for a lot less than what Diaz pulled. Stealing a power source and attempting to steal an energy weapon should be more than enough to build a case for terrorism charges.

Why doesn't Dinah call in the cops when Black Siren goes into Diaz's base? Ignoring that it's what she should do as a cop who is trying to follow procedures now, it would be a wonderful opportunity to bust Black Siren violating the anti-vigilante laws.

Why don't Dinah and Black Siren chase after The Silencer when her field shorts out?

Performances
Again, Emily Bett Rickards slays with the power of her performance here.

Artistry

The silent fight scene between Silencer, Black Canary and Black Siren is well handled.

TriviaThe episode opens with an entirely new opening narration by Oliver Queen.

The Longbow Hunters were a villain group formed by Ricardo Diaz during Jeff Lemire's run on Green Arrow, made up of villains who had a grudge against Green Arrow. The line-up included Diaz himself, Brick, The Red Dart, Killer Moth and Count Vertigo.

In The Arrowverse, The Longbow Hunters are some legendary group that Diaz has made contact with. Anatoly has heard of them but thought they were just a myth. Oliver says that they are three assassins whom even The League of Assassins were afraid of. The last one reportedly died in The 1950s.

One of the Longbow Hunters is a woman called The Red Dart. The name of the Red Dart has been used by three different villains in DC Comics history.

The first Red Dart was a man named John "Midas" Mallory who pretended to be a hero like Green Arrow, while secretly working as a Deadshot-style assassin. He first appeared in World's Finest Comics #95.

The second Red Dart was a nameless man who appeared in one issue Grant Morrison's JLA (JLA #34), who claimed to have bought the gear and the name from John Mallory. His big claim to fame was stealing the Green Lantern ring off of an unconscious Kyle Rayner so that Prometheus could analyze it.

The third Red Dart was a nameless woman who was identified as one of Green Arrow's enemies during the Jeff Lemire run on Green Arrow in the New 52 series. She used trick darts similar to Green Arrow's trick arrows and was part of The Longbow Hunters. She first appeared in Green Arrow #31 (May 2014).

The Arrowverse version of The Red Dart seems to be based on the third Red Dart from the comics, being a woman who uses a dart gun as a weapon.

One of the Longbow Hunters is revealed as a man called Kodiak. In the original comics, Kodiak was the leader of The Shield Clan - one of the various families tied to ancient weapons who made up the group called The Outsiders. He first appeared in Green Arrow #26 (December 2013) and was the keeper of The Shield Totem, which granted immortality and ultimate wisdom to its keeper. He was recruited to kill Oliver Queen, as he searched for The Arrow Totem.

The Arrowverse version of Kodiak is a large man who fights with a heavy shield with sharpened-edges as a weapon. He is apparently easily bored and does not mind killing people messily compared to his more stealthy compatriots.

One of the Longbow Hunters is revealed as a woman called The Silencer. First appearing in The Silencer #1 (January 2018) The Silencer was a woman named Honor Guest who was once one of the most famous assassins in the world. After decades in the service of Talia Al Ghul, she was allowed to retire and start a normal life with an ordinary man. She was dragged back into her old life, however, and began a battle to save everything she had worked so hard to build. She had a unique metahuman power that allowed her to create a zone of total silence around her so no one could hear her approach or the noise of any conflict she started.

The Arrowverse version of The Silencer has the same power, though her abilities are technological in nature rather than the result of a metahuman power. She also does not share the motivations of her comic book counterpart. This would seem to be an alternate version of The Silencer who never renounces her violent past as an assassin in favor of a normal life.

TechnobabbleFelicity creates a device she calls her Digi Murder Board - a tablet that analyzes all the data she has found on Diaz and seeks out additional intelligence, making predictions based on all of this data. Essentially, it is an electronic brain that thinks like Diaz. It is also tracking his known associates, like The Longbow Hunters.

Diaz acquired an Electronic Jammer that allowed him to bypass the security of even an ARGUS safe-house. Digg says this is because of Diaz's new friends.

The item stolen by The Longbow Hunters is Prototype B-24 - an experimental removable ultra high-density removable battery, Curtis says that one battery has the capability of powering an entire town and ARGUS was using them to help refugees.

The Longbow Hunters are armed with a high-tech shield, nano-powered darts and a sonic manipulator.

Curtis and Felicity are able to track The Longbow Hunters by finding an energy spike from where they tested the battery.

The T-Spheres do not have lock-picking capabilities.

ARGUS developed an adapter that calibrates the charge of the B-24 battery to power a directed energy weapon capable of flattening a whole city.

William spent over a billion dollars trying to develop affordable magnetic levitation.

Kodiak's shield is strong enough to deflect high-caliber rounds and sharp enough to cut an assault rifle in half.

The Silencer's force-field is capable of canceling out Black Siren and Black Canary's sonic screams at point-blank range, though the two of them together are able to overpower the field.

Dialogue TriumphsOliver: My name was Oliver Queen. After six years of being a vigilante, the only way to achieve my goal and save my city was to confess to being The Green Arrow. Now my family and friends must carry on my mission without me. I am no longer a hero.I am Inmate 4587.

(Curtis is filling Felicity's wine glass.)Felicity: A little more.(Curtis keeps pouring.)Felicity: Little more.Curtis: Do you want me to put a straw in the bottle?

Dinah:(To Black Siren) You know, I don't really care if Diaz kills you. But I do care if he kills the DA.

Curtis: Please tell me you are not hacking ARGUS from inside ARGUS!Felicity: (hissing) Of course not I'm not ARGUS from inside ARGUS! I'm hacking... INTERPOL from inside ARGUS.Curtis: That's not much better and that will still get me fired!

(Digg tells Felicity that she has to accept that Oliver isn't coming back even if they catch Diaz.)Felicity: I can't. And I won't! And I can't believe that you do. The old John would have done anything to bring down that monster and you're - you're here! And you wouldn't even take up the Green Arrow mantle - the only thing that Oliver asked you to do! You've moved on with your life. The last six years actually meant to something to me! So I am going to stop Diaz, whatever it takes. Even if I have to do it alone!

(Black Siren tells Dinah about her plan to kill Diaz herself.)Dinah: You know, I knew you were faking it this whole time. Becoming the DA and all your BS talk about the rule of law? You know deep down you are still the same lying murderer who killed the man I loved!Continuity
Oliver got two days in the hole for the fight he started in 701.

Ollie's attacker in the showers got sent to Level 2 of The Slab, which is worse than a death sentence.

Brick was behind hiring the inmates who attacked Oliver.

Dinah put Black Siren under direct police protection since Diaz is apparently on the move again.

Felicity says that she is monitoring Cyrus Broderick. He is the last surviving member of The Quadrant leadership not killed by Diaz.

The Longbow Hunters raid an ARGUS research facility, stealing something from vault 326.

Curtis says he is scared of ARGUS Deputy Director Bell.

Anatoly is acting as ARGUS' source regarding The Longbow Hunters. He confirms they are the ones who robbed ARGUS.

Felicity deduces on her own that The Longbow Hunters are involved, based on their weapons.

Brick says he might tell Oliver how to find Diaz if he gets rid of Officer Peter Yorke. He refuses to say why he wants him gone.

Oliver agrees, but says he will do it his way without killing Yorke.

Felicity, Rene and Curtis break into The Longbow Hunters' hideout at the same time as Diggle's ARGUS team.

ARGUS is aware of the FBI's deal with Team Arrow and is authorized to bring anyone who violates the anti-vigilante laws down.

Oliver learned enough hacking tricks from Felicity to use the prison library computer to access the personnel records of the prison's staff.

Officer Peter Yorke was born in 1978. Enlisted in the army at age 19 and served for 8 years, earning commendations before being injured in the line of duty. He became a guard at The Slab shortly thereafter and worked there for 12 years. He has a wife named Jenna and a son named Noah. He has never had any disciplinary problems or complaints filed against him.

Oliver tries to warn Officer Yorke to quit or transfer or something to get out of The Slab.

John admits that he refused to become Green Arrow because he saw how The Hood ruined Oliver's family and he couldn't do that to his wife and son. Instead, he chose to commit to his job at ARGUS as a way to honor his commitment to protecting Star City without putting a mask on.

Dinah tracks Black Siren to an abandoned building that Diaz bought right after joining The Quadrant.

John recovers the battery, but Diaz and The Longbow Hunters are allowed to escape as John delinks the train cars to make sure the battery can't be stolen back.

Felicity says that she understands why John did what he did and agrees he is doing good work to help people, but that she can't work with anyone whose primary goal isn't bringing down Diaz.

Black Siren apologizes to Dinah for killing Vinny and insists that she's changed.

Ollie frames Officer Yorke for stabbing him.

Felicity goes to FBI Agent Samandara Watson to ask for her help in bringing down Diaz.

Oliver and Felicity apparently abandoned William when he was a teenager.

William makes reference to having an ex-boyfriend.

Roy changes the subject when William asks why he is on Lian Yu.

Felicity implanted an electronic device that broadcast the coordinates of Lian Yu into The Queen Family Hozen. It began to beep three weeks before William arrived on Lian Yu.

Roy asks why Felicity would want William to come to Lian Yu.

William says he hasn't been to Lian Yu since his mother died.

Roy advises William not to look for answers in the past.

William is apparently a self-made tech-billionaire.

William recalls how he first met Roy when he was with his aunt Thea and they were going off somewhere together. (This happened in 616.)

Roy doesn't want to discuss the past, saying that he came to Lian Yu to forget all that.

The exact coordinates William was given lead to four graves Oliver told Roy about. These belong to Robert Queen, Yao Fei, Shado and Taiana

Roy found a fifth grave which contains Oliver's old chest full of gear from his time on Lian Yu and his bow.

William says he can't use a bow and arrow.

The bow contains a message, which Roy burns. Afterward, Roy says they have to go back to Star City.Location
Slabside Maximum Security Prison.
Lian Yu - 2038The Winick Factor
It is the height of plot convenience that The Silencer just happens to be the one at Diaz's base when the two women with sonic powers show up to storm it.The Bottom Line

For an episode called The Longbow Hunters, they barely feature into the episode at all and we learn next to nothing about the long-awaited master-assassins that are supposed to be utterly unstoppable. Sadly, there's almost nothing to them, which is not surprising given that (with the exception of The Silencer) none of them have been particularly well developed in the comics.

Thankfully, while the episode is a disappointment when it comes to trying to make Diaz's actions make sense, the core cast manage to make the main storylines work perfectly. The Black Canary/Black Siren rivalry gets some much needed development, though there's little logic behind Dinah's decision to cover her arch-enemy as she's getting ready to break the law, instead of, oh, say, calling all the cops and exposing The DA as a hypocrite and a fraud.

Still, OTA steals the show, with Emily Bett delivering a powerhouse performance, Stephen Amell offering his most tormented performance yet as Oliver Queen and David Ramsey managing to make Digg's sudden about-face on becoming Green Arrow seem natural and logical... even though he was beating Oliver up over the right to become Green Arrow a scant few episodes ago.

The mystery of the future is stacking up nicely, even if we're left with more questions about the past than we are what happens next. All in all, it's a decent filler episode though it has more than a few obvious flaws. Still, it is not without its charms.